


Community

by thesometimeswarrior



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Brothers, Canon Compliant, Episode: s02e21 Weirdmageddon 4 Somewhere In The Woods, Ficlet, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Weirdmageddon, Rated for Minor Alcohol Use, Regret, Social Anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25702234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesometimeswarrior/pseuds/thesometimeswarrior
Summary: The town stays well after the formal end of the party.“These people…” Ford says. “They seem kind.”“Well, ya know," Stan replies. "They’re not bad for some idiots from a small town in the middle of the woods.”
Relationships: Ford Pines & Gravity Falls Residents, Ford Pines & Stan Pines, Stan Pines & Gravity Falls Residents
Comments: 22
Kudos: 128





	Community

The town stays well after the formal end of the party, even after the kids, the guests of honor—yawning and trying to resist it—stumble back inside to finish packing. So, Stan hauls out the fairy lights like he had for the Grand Re-Opening and swaps some of the Pitt Colas out for Budweisers.

Let ‘em stay. He’s in no rush, after all. There’s no portal in the basement to hurry down to now, no longer any reason to scramble to fix it. His brother is _here_ , is _safe_ , and so are the kids, and so is everyone else. Stan can sit, unburdened, facing out on the stoop of the Shack in that muggy late-summer air, let the sounds of the town mingling mix with those of the crickets as he sips on his beer. And he does, only looking up when Ford sits down beside him.

“These people…” Ford cracks open a beer of his own, but doesn’t move to drink it.

“What about ‘em?”

“Were they…I don’t suppose you’d _know_ , but I wonder if they were here when I was. You know, _before_ …”

Stan leans back. “They were. Well, most of ‘em. Not the kids—or _teenagers_ , whatever—obviously. But their parents, yeah. And most of ‘em who are our age…” he chuckles. “Some of ‘em were the first customers I ever had, right after…” A pause. The levity falls out of his voice. “Well, not too long after I got here.”

“Mm.”

“What?” 

“They seem kind.” Ford sets his drink, still untouched, down beside him. 

“Well, ya know, they’re not bad for some idiots from a small town in the middle of the woods.” In front of him, a few feet away, Blubs and Durland slow dance to music only they seem to be able to hear. Lazy Susan leans against a tree, good eye scrunched up in laugher as Toby pontificates about Death Ball. “They weren’t always _nice_ to me,” Stan continues. “But they always made me feel like I was one of ‘em, and I guess I never really had that before I came here. I mean,” he adds hastily at his brother’s crestfallen expression. “Don’t get me wrong, when we were kids, you and I had _each other_ , but neither of us ever fit in in Jersey, did we?”

“No. We didn’t.”

“Right, and after I…uh… _left_ Glass Shard Beach, I never really was able to stay in one place long enough. Townspeople drove me out of pretty much every place I went. Until I got here, and—Stanford, what in the _heck_ is wrong?!”

Ford’s head shoots up. “Nothing, nothing.” 

“Well, you’re over there looking like someone _died_ , so—”

“It’s just…ironic.” He pinches the bridge of his nose between two fingers. “When we were children…and even after that, when I was in college, I never…I always wanted… _all_ I wanted, was to find somewhere where people would accept me, where I wouldn’t feel like a freak. In some ways, that’s what drew me to studying anomalies—what drew me to this town—in the first place. But when I got here…” Ford looks out at the crowd. “I could have been friends with these people. I could have been a part of a _community_. They might have— _would_ have—accepted… _embraced_ me, and I...I was _here_ , but all I did was chase _gnomes_ , and…and build a fence with a Keep Out sign!”

“Huh. Yeah.”

“That’s all you have to say?! ‘ _Yeah_?!’”

“Well, yeah, that’s all true. But…” He rests a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t planning on heading out to sea for at least a month or two. And even then, I sorta figured we’d come back here every once in a while to visit—maybe us and the kids could all come back every summer or something, I dunno—And after everything that happened, the whole town sorta sees us all as heroes, so…” Stan smirks. “I guess what I’m tryna say is that it’s not too late, if you wanna get to know ‘em.” He finishes his beer in a single swig. “Do ya?”

Ford doesn’t say anything in response, but he doesn’t have to. He has that same hesitant, longing glint in his eye as when he had been a child, watching from behind a book as their classmates ran around the playground in a game of tag. 

And Stan does now what he did then. Moving his hand from Ford’s shoulder to his elbow, he grabs his twin by the arm, pulls him to his feet, and drags him forward. “Hey, Susan, Toby—have you met my brother?”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I love comments!


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